October 2017 Board meeting highlights

October 2017 Board meeting highlights

Posted on 10/11/2017

Hard-working, dedicated, and meticulous are words describing Linda Hoving, central office campus head custodian, who was honored by the Converse County School District #1 Board of Trustees as the Spotlight Employee of the Month during the regular board meeting on October 10. Linda has been employed by the district for nearly 10 years beginning at Douglas Middle School and moving to central office in 2014. All of the staff at central office recognized Linda for her initiative, practical ideas, positive mood, and constant smile. Linda even cooks up a few culinary treats for the staff! Linda ensures central office is a welcoming place for district patrons. Congratulations Linda!

The Douglas Primary School art classes provided an excellent backdrop for the meeting.

The board, convening as the Converse County Recreation Board, approved the recreation funding requests from the DYRC, Converse County Waves, Boys and Girls Club, and Douglas Community Club. The board will consider requests from Main Street Douglas and Douglas Hockey Association at a later date. The rec board also approved a request from Recreation Director Monty Gilbreath to complete a conceptual design study for upgrades to Nida Field.

An exciting part of the meeting was approving the creation of a bank account to house the funds from the Bearcat Loyalty program offered by Converse County Bank. The community has supported this program so well that after just the first few months, approximately $10,000 has already been collected. Those dollars will be used to support student needs in all the district schools.

The board also approved the strategic goals for the district along with the measures and deliverables that will determine if the district is making progress toward meeting those goals. The district goals are to increase academic achievement for all students. Every student should grow academically regardless of his or her starting point. The board also wants to focus on continuous improvement and to increase effectiveness and efficiencies across all schools and departments. Administrators collect data throughout the year and report out annually to the board about progress on district goals.

The board asked the superintendent to pursue a lease agreement with the Douglas Assembly of God to utilize the North Grade School (old EWC) building.

Policies about staff and family leave, professional leave, and staff conferences and workshops passed on final reading. The board also read and moved forward additional policies related to staff complaints and grievances and evaluation of professional staff.